Hong Kong Reporters Say Press Freedom Violated in Bali

Hong Kong’s vibrant press community is up in arms over the treatment of several journalists covering the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali on Sunday, in what the local journalists’ association calls a serious violation of press freedom.

Nine television and radio journalists were hastily removed from the APEC venue with their credentials removed moments after they shouted questions at Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. They were asking if he would meet Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and apologize over the handling of the Manila hostage crisis in 2010 that resulted in the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists.

European Pressphoto Agency

Philippine president Benigno Aquino III listens to a translation on his earphones during a the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Oct. 6, 2013.

“Have you met C.Y. Leung?” one male reporter screamed during a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the main APEC meeting. “Do you apologize to the Hong Kong people for the Manila tragedy?” another female reporter asks Mr. Aquino while aiming their microphones at him as he and his entourage were walking in a corridor, according to footage from local television network Now TV.

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But Mr. Aquino didn’t reply and organizers of the summit soon intervened, with one of the staff accusing the reporters of “ambushing one of our visitors,” the footage from Now TV showed. The journalists were from Now TV, Radio Television Hong Kong and Commercial Radio.

The staff “ordered us out of the venue and confiscated our press passes,” NOW TV reporter Daphne Lo told China Real Time, referring to staff of the CEO summit’s organizers. “We could no longer access the media center or APEC summit venue,” she said. NOW TV said its reporters were only engaged in normal reporting duties.

Sham Yee-lan, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association, said the Hong Kong reporters were just doing their jobs. “It’s normal for the reporters to shout questions loudly or take an aggressive approach because they care about the news” related to the Manila hostage crisis, she said.

She said the banning of the reporters “for asking critical questions is an outright infringement of press freedom that is totally unacceptable.”

Many people in Hong Kong believe that the Philippine government mishandled the 2010 hostage tragedy, when a sacked Manila policeman took a group of Hong Kong tourists hostage at gunpoint aboard their tour bus in the nation’s capital. The hours-long crisis ended when the man opened fire at the hostages after negotiations with the police and the government broke down. The man was fatally shot by police.

Since the tragedy, survivors and families of the victims have been demanding that the Philippine government issue a formal apology and to compensate them for their suffering. The Hong Kong government has for the last three years kept a black travel warning for the Philippines, advising residents against nonessential travel to the nation.

Responding to queries about their treatment of the Hong Kong reporters, the APEC CEO Summit host committee said it took “appropriate action” to remove the credentials of the journalists after they “created a disturbance and ignored requests to relocate.”

“The organizers are obliged to be good hosts and ensure a respectful environment for invited leaders, delegates and media,” it told China Real Time in a statement .

“We remain committed to maintaining an open and orderly environment for media from around the globe to actively participate in Summit sessions and dialogue,” it said.

Corrections & Amplifications: When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III didn’t respond to questions from Hong Kong reporters during a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the main Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, organizers of the CEO meeting intervened. An earlier version of this post said APEC staff intervened.

Also, a Hong Kong NOW TV reporter quoted as saying APEC staff ordered reporters out of the venue and confiscated their press passes was referring to staff of the CEO summit’s organizers.

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